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ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT EMC METALS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD
Executive Summary Nyngan Scandium Project
Report No. 773/05
ES-1
Executive Summary
INTRODUCTION
This Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
has been prepared by R.W. Corkery & Co.
Pty. Limited on behalf of EMC Metals
Australia Pty Ltd (the Applicant) to support
an application for development consent for
the Nyngan Scandium Project (the
Proposal), located approximately 20km
west-southwest of Nyngan in Western NSW
(Figure A).
Figure A Locality Plan
A6 / Colour
Dated 29/03/16 Inserted 04/04/16
The Proposal would comprise construction
and use of the following.
Two open cuts within a surrounding
borrow pit with extraction of up to
80 000t per annum (tpa) of high grade
ore and up to 95 000tpa of low grade
ore over a period of 21 years.
A Processing Plant.
A Residue Storage Facility.
Ancillary infrastructure, including but
not limited to, a site access road,
evaporation pond, levee bunds, water
and power supply infrastructure etc.
The Proposal is classified as State
Significant Development in accordance
with Paragraph 5 of Schedule 1 of State
Environmental Planning Policy (State and
Regional Development) 2011 (State and
Regional Development SEPP) as it would
have a capital investment value of more
than $30 million.
Approval is required in accordance with
Division 4.1 of the Environmental Planning
and Assessment Act 1979 (EP&A Act). The
approval authority is the Minister for
Planning and Environment or their delegate.
THE APPLICANT
The Applicant, EMC Metals Australia Pty
Ltd, is a subsidiary of the Canadian-
incorporated Scandium International
Mining Corp. (SCY). SCY is a specialty
metals mining group with a worldwide
exploration and development focus on
scandium projects and market development,
as well as opportunistic development of
select specialty metals and rare earth
elements that may accompany scandium
resources. SCY’s primary operational focus
is on its scandium project holdings,
specifically the Nyngan Scandium Project
and the Honeybugle property in Australia
and the Tordal scandium property in
Norway.
The Proposal is 100% owned and operated
by the Applicant.
EMC METALS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT
Nyngan Scandium Project Executive Summary
Report No. 773/05
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OBJECTIVES OF THE PROPOSAL
The Applicant’s objectives in constructing
and operating the Proposal include the
following.
To mine the identified scandium
reserves in a safe and environmentally
responsible manner.
To maximise the recovery of the
identified scandium reserves through
efficient mining and processing
operations.
To minimise the consumption of
water, power and chemical reagents.
To operate the Proposal in a manner
that would minimise surface
disturbance and impacts on
surrounding residents and the local
environment.
To develop and operate the Proposal
in compliance with all relevant
statutory requirements.
To create a final landform that is
suitable for a post-mining land use
that would include a mixture of
agriculture, nature conservation and
water storage.
To achieve the above objectives in a
cost-effective manner to ensure
security of employment and the
continued economic viability of the
Applicant.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSAL
Overview
The Proposal would comprise the following
(Figure B).
Establishment of infrastructure
required for the Proposal, including a
Site Access Road, power and water
supply, levee bunds and
administration area.
Extraction of overburden and ore
material from two open cuts and a
surrounding borrow pit using
conventional free dig mining methods
on a campaign basis. Annual ore
production would be up to 80 000t of
high grade ore, and up to 95 000t of
low grade ore. Mining would be
undertaken for a period of up to
21 years.
Use of extracted overburden for the
construction of site infrastructure,
including the Residue Storage
Facility, levee bunds, haul roads and
water management structures.
Construction and use of a Processing
Plant, which would incorporate a run-
of-mine (ROM) Pad, feed preparation
circuit, high pressure acid leach plant
and associated infrastructure,
including boilers, reagent and
consumable stores, as well as residue
management systems to produce up to
approximately 45t per year of
scandium oxide. The scandium oxide
would be transported from the Project
Site in sealed containers with an
indicative capacity of less than 100L.
Processing would be undertaken for
the life of the mining operations,
namely 21 years.
Construction and use of a Residue
Storage Facility.
Construction and use of water
management structures, including a
Raw Water Pond, Event Pond,
External Decant Pond, Evaporation
Pond and a number of Sediment
Ponds.
Construction and use of a transformer
and electrical distribution network.
Construction of soil stockpiles (for
use in rehabilitation works).
Establishment of a Biodiversity Offset
Area.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT EMC METALS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD
Executive Summary Nyngan Scandium Project
Report No. 773/05
ES-3
Figure B Project Site Layout
A4 / Colour
Dated 08/04/16 Inserted 11/04/16
EMC METALS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT
Nyngan Scandium Project Executive Summary
Report No. 773/05
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Site Preparation
The following activities would be
undertaken in preparation for mining
operations and the construction of the
Processing Plant and other infrastructure.
Survey, mark out and fencing of
disturbance areas.
Construction of the Site Access Road,
internal roads and intersection of the
Site Access Road and Gilgai Road.
Construction of the Processing Plant,
workshops, offices and associated
infrastructure, including a high
voltage electricity line and water
supply pipeline.
Removal of vegetation and stripping
of soil.
Mining Operations
Ore and overburden would be extracted
from two open cuts and a borrow pit as
follows.
Total area .................................38.2ha.
Depth
– East Pit .............................. 45mbgl.
– West Pit ............................. 50mbgl.
– Borrow Pit ......................... 15mbgl.
Following removal of vegetation and soil
material, mining operations would
commence with the removal of overburden
using a front-end loader and bulldozer.
Open cut mining operations would then
remove ore material in thin layers using a
front-end loader or excavator. Annual ore
production would be up to 80 000t of high
grade ore and 95 000t of low grade ore for a
period of 21 years.
The Applicant does not anticipate that drill
and blast extraction methods will be
required.
Processing Operations
Ore material would be processed within the
on-site Processing Plant, which would
include the following components.
A ROM Pad for stockpiling and
blending of ore.
A Feed Preparation Circuit for
physical preparation of ore material.
A Leach Preparation Circuit for
preheating and preparation of the ore
slurry.
A High Pressure Acid Leach Circuit
where the contained scandium would
be transferred from the ore to the
leach solution.
A Counter Current Decant Circuit
where the scandium-bearing leach
solution would be removed from the
ore slurry.
A Solvent Extraction Circuit where
the leached scandium in solution
would be transferred to an organic
solvent.
A Scandium Oxide Precipitation
Circuit where the scandium would be
precipitated from the organic solvent
and converted to scandium oxide.
A Residue Preparation Circuit where
the residue or tailings would be
neutralised and thickened prior to
being transferred to the Residue
Storage Facility.
The anticipated annual production would be
approximately 45t of scandium oxide per
year.
The Processing Plant would also include a
range of ancillary infrastructure, including
the following
Reagent stores.
An LPG-fired boiler.
A cooling tower.
A reverse osmosis plant.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT EMC METALS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD
Executive Summary Nyngan Scandium Project
Report No. 773/05
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Water management structure.
Workshops.
Administration offices.
Residue Management
Residue would be pumped to the Residue
Storage Facility, where the solid and liquid
fractions would then be permitted to
separate. The liquid fraction would be
pumped to the External Decant Pond for
reuse within the Processing Plant.
The Residue Storage Facility would be an
engineered, lined facility that would comply
with the design criteria of the Dams Safety
Committee of NSW and the Environment
Protection Authority’s Draft Environmental
Guidelines: Solid Waste Landfills.
Water Management
The Applicant would source required
operational water from the existing Nyngan
to Cobar Pipeline. That water would be
subject of the relevant Water Access
Licence and would be supplied under a
commercial arrangement with the Cobar
Water Board.
Levee bunds would be constructed around
the proposed areas of disturbance, with the
crest of the bund approximately 1m high
above the modelled height of a 0.1% (1 in
1 000 year) Annual Exceedance Probability
storm event.
A range of water management structures
would be constructed within the bunded
areas to ensure appropriate separation of
clean, dirty and contaminated water. No
surface water would be discharged from the
Project Site.
Transportation Operations
The Project Site would be accessed via the
Barrier Highway and Gilgai Road, with the
vast majority of vehicles accessing the
Project Site from the east.
An assessment of the intersection between
the Barrier Highway and Gilgai Road
determined that the sight distance from the
intersection along the Barrier Highway is
560m to the east and 200m to the west.
The Applicant would construct an
intersection between Gilgai Road and the
Site Access Road in accordance with
Austroads Guide to Road Design – Part 4A:
Un-signalised and Signalised Intersections
to the satisfaction of Bogan Shire Council.
Finally, the Applicant anticipates that the
Proposal would result in up to 60 light
vehicle movements (30 return trips) per day
and 10 heavy vehicle movements (5 return
trips) per day.
Hours of Operation
The Applicant would undertake mining
operations on a campaign basis
approximately 3 times per year. Mining
would typically be undertaken 7 days per
week between 6:00am and 6:00pm, with a
period before and after those times.
Processing operations would be undertaken
24-hours per day, 7 days per week.
Life of the Proposal
The Applicant proposes to undertake
mining operations for a period of 21 years,
with a period prior to mining operations
commencing for financing and construction
operations and following mining operations
for rehabilitation and mine closure
operations. As a result, development
consent is sought for a period of 26 years.
EMC METALS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT
Nyngan Scandium Project Executive Summary
Report No. 773/05
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Employment and Economic Contribution
The Applicant anticipates that it would
require the following full time equivalent
(FTE) personnel to operate the Proposal.
Construction – Approximately
60 FTE positions.
Ongoing operations – Approximately
75 FTE positions
Additional employment would also be
generated for contract campaign mining
operations, contract truck drivers and
service providers.
The Applicant anticipates that the Proposal
would contribute approximately
$12.4 million per year to the local and
regional economy, and approximately
$39.0 million per year to the State and
national economies.
Final Landform and Land Use
The final landform would comprise the
following.
Two bunded and fenced open cuts
within a revegetated borrow pit with
side slopes of 1:3 (V:H) or less.
A free draining, covered and
revegetated Residue Storage Facility.
A shaped, covered and revegetated
Low Grade Stockpile with slide
slopes of 1:3 (V:H) or less
A generally flat Processing Plant Area
with all infrastructure not required for
the final land use, including the levee
bunds, removed.
Two water storage dams, namely the
Event Pond and Sediment Pond, with
all other water storages removed.
The Site Access Road would remain for the
final land use. Infrastructure within the
services corridor not required for the final
land use would be removed.
The proposed final land uses for the Project
Site would include agriculture, nature
conservation and water storage.
PLANNING CONTEXT
Planning Instruments
The Project Site is situated within land
zoned as RU1 – Primary Production under
the Bogan Local Environmental Plan 2011
(Bogan LEP). Open-cut mining is identified
as permissible with consent within this
zone.
The Proposal would be developed and
operated in accordance with a number of
State planning instruments, namely:
SEPP (State and Regional
Development) 2011;
SEPP (Mining, Petroleum Production
and Extractive Industries) 2007;
SEPP (Infrastructure) 2007; and
SEPP 33 (Hazardous and Offensive
Development).
The EIS addresses each of the above
documents together with the Bogan LEP.
Approvals Required
In addition to development consent, the
Applicant anticipates the following
approvals, licences and leases would be
required.
An Environment Protection Licence
issued under the Protection of the
Environment Operations Act 1997.
A Mining Lease issued under the
Mining Act 1992.
Water Supply Works and Use
Approval and Water Access Licence
issued under the Water Management
Act 2000.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT EMC METALS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD
Executive Summary Nyngan Scandium Project
Report No. 773/05
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A Section 138 Permit issued by the
Bogan Shire Council under the Roads
Act 1993, for construction of the
intersection of the Site Access Road
and Gilgai Road.
An approval from the NSW Dams
Safety Committee for the design and
construction of the Residue Storage
Facility.
A high voltage connection agreement
with Essential Energy under the
Electricity Supply Act 1995.
ENVIRONMENTAL FEATURES SAFEGUARDS AND IMPACTS
The components and features of the existing
environment within and surrounding the
Project Site have been studied in detail and
the Proposal has been designed to avoid or
minimise impacts on that environment. A
brief overview of the main components of
the surrounding environment, the proposed
safeguards and the assessed level of impact
are set out in the following sections.
Air Quality
Ramboll Environ determined that the
Proposal would not result in an exceedance
of the relevant deposited or suspended
particulate matter assessment criteria at any
surrounding residences as a result of the
Proposal. In addition, the Proposal would
not result in significant greenhouse gas
impacts. Furthermore, taking into
consideration the Applicant’s commitment
to install a range of emission control
devices to ensure compliance with the
Clean Air Regulation, Ramboll Environ
determined that the Proposal would not
result in adverse air quality impacts
associated with the proposed processing
operations.
Ecology
The Proposal would result in the
disturbance of approximately 9.3ha of
Poplar Box Gum-barked Coolibah
White Cypress Pine shrubby woodland
mainly in the Cobar Peneplain Bioregion
vegetation community. EnviroKey
undertook an assessment of the impacts
associated with the disturbance of this
vegetation, and determined that the
Proposal would not have a significant
impact upon this community, as it is well
represented in the immediate area.
EnviroKey further identified that:
five species listed under the
Threatened Species Conservation Act
1995 have the potential to occur
within the Project Site; and
one protected species listed under the
Environment Protection and
Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999
has the potential to occur within the
Project Site.
EnviroKey undertook significance
assessments for each of the observed
species or those with potential to occur and
determined that, with the implementation of
management and mitigation measures, the
Proposal would be unlikely to have a
significant impact on any identified species.
The Applicant would implement a
Biodiversity Offset Strategy to offset
vegetation clearing impacts, including a
proposed 64ha Biodiversity Offset Area
(Figure B). EnviroKey concluded that the
proposed Biodiversity Offset Strategy
would be consistent with the Office of
Environment and Heritage’s offsetting
principles.
Surface Water
Knight Piésold undertook an assessment of
the hydrology of the Project Site and
surrounds. In particular, the assessment
focused on the potential for flooding
EMC METALS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT
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associated with Whitbarrow Creek, located
to the south of the Project Site. The
assessment considered both a 1% (1 in
100 year) and 0.1% (1 in 1 000 year)
Annual Exceedance Probability (AEP)
Storm.
Knight Piésold determined that the
maximum flood height for a 0.1% AEP
event in the vicinity of the Processing
Plant/Residue Storage Facility Area and the
open cuts would be approximately
185.2m AHD and 184.5m AHD
respectively. As a result; the Applicant
proposes to construct levee bunds around
the Processing Plant/Residue Storage
Facility Area and open cuts of 186.6m AHD
and 185.6m AHD respectively, or more
than 1m higher than the anticipated
0.1% AEP flood level.
The levee bunds would exclude all surface
water from the proposed disturbance areas
and retain all potentially dirty or
contaminated water within the bunded area.
As a result, no adverse surface water
impacts are anticipated.
Groundwater
Ground Doctor determined that the
groundwater within the Project Site would
not be suitable for any common beneficial
use without prior treatment due to high
salinity. Impax also determined that the
Proposal is not anticipated to result in
groundwater drawdown at any surrounding
groundwater bores or drainage lines.
Noise
Operational and transport noise generated
by the Proposal would, assuming the
implementation of the nominated
safeguards and controls, not exceed the
relevant criteria at any privately-owned
residence.
Traffic and Transportation
The Site Access Road, the intersection of
the Site Access Road and Gilgai Road, and
the intersection of Gilgai Road and the
Barrier Highway would be upgraded to
accommodate Project-related heavy vehicle
movements. As a result, the Proposal would
not result in additional adverse traffic-
related impacts.
Aboriginal and Historic Heritage
No sites of Aboriginal heritage significance
were identified within the Project Site. One
site of potential historic heritage
significance was identified but would not be
disturbed by the Proposal.
Visual Amenity
Based on the relative isolation of the Project
Site and the proposed landscape and visual
amenity related controls, the Proposal
would not impact significantly on local
visual amenity.
Soils and Land Capability
Given the establishment of soil
management procedures and safeguards, the
Proposal would not result in significant soil
and land capability impacts.
PROPOSAL EVALUATION AND JUSTIFICATION
The Nyngan Scandium Project has been
evaluated and justified principally through
consideration of its potential impacts on the
environment and potential benefits to the
local and wider community.
An evaluation of the Proposal has been
undertaken by firstly re-assessing the risks
posed to the local environment by Proposal-
related activities following the
implementation of all operational controls,
safeguards and/or mitigation measures, and
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT EMC METALS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD
Executive Summary Nyngan Scandium Project
Report No. 773/05
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secondly through consideration of the
principles of ecologically sustainable
development.
This evaluation has found that, with the
implementation of the proposed operational
controls, safeguards and/or mitigation
measures, the residual risk posed by each
potential environmental impact has been
reduced to either moderate, low, or as low
as reasonably practicable, and therefore
acceptable.
Further, the design of the Proposal has
addressed each of the sustainable
development principles, and on balance, it
is concluded that the Proposal achieves a
sustainable outcome for the local and wider
environment.
The Proposal and associated activities have
been assessed in terms of a wide range of
biophysical, social and economic issues.
Potential residual impacts can be justified in
terms of the positive economic and social
benefits to the local surrounding towns,
villages and regional centres and the Bogan
and surrounding Local Government Areas.
CONCLUSION
The Proposal has, to the extent feasible,
been designed to address all issues raised by
the local community and all levels of
government, as well as the principles of
ecologically sustainable development. The
Proposal provides for the extraction of a
valuable State-owned resource that would
facilitate the development of new and
innovative products, including wider use of
aluminium – scandium alloys and fuel cells.
The Proposal would also result in the
creation of local employment and
expenditure within the regional economy.
The socio-economic impacts of the
Proposal are considered to be positive.
Finally, the post-mining landform would
result in the continuation of the existing
land use, namely agriculture, as well as
providing areas for nature conservation and
water storage.
In light of the conclusions included
throughout this Environmental Impact
Statement, it is assessed that the Proposal
could be constructed and operated in a
manner that would satisfy all relevant
statutory goals and criteria, environmental
objectives and reasonable community
expectations.
EMC METALS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT
Nyngan Scandium Project Executive Summary
Report No. 773/05
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Project Summary
Page 1 of 2
Project Component Summary of the Proposal
Mining Method Open cut mining using free dig techniques within two open cuts and a borrow pit with a combined area of 38.2ha and a maximum depth of approximately 50mbgl.
Mining would be undertaken on a campaign basis approximately three times per year.
Resource Measures and indicated – 12Mt at 261ppm scandium.
Disturbance Area Approximately 145ha, comprising:
9.3ha of Benson ID 103 – Poplar Box – Gum Coolabah and White Cypress Pine Shrubby Woodland mainly in the Cobar Peneplain Bioregion; and
135.7ha of exotic vegetation.
Annual Ore Production Up to approximately 80 000tpa of high grade ore and 95 000tpa of low grade ore.
Mine Life Approximately 21 years for mining operations, with an additional 2 years for financing and construction and 2 to 3 years for rehabilitation for a total Proposal life of 26 years.
Total Resource Recovered
Approximately 1.5Mt.
Processing Scandium would be extracted using high pressure acid leach and solvent extraction to produce up to 45t of scandium oxide per year.
Management of Overburden
Overburden would be used to construct site infrastructure, including the Residue Storage Facility, levee bunds and water storages.
General Infrastructure (see Figure B)
General infrastructure would include the following.
Site Access Road and intersection with Gilgai Road.
Two open cuts and a borrow pit.
A Processing Plant Area incorporating the proposed Processing Plant, reagent storage areas, water storages and hardstand areas.
A Residue Storage Facility.
Internal roads, including an elevated haul road.
Electricity supply and distribution network.
Ancillary infrastructure, including offices, workshops, hydrocarbon stores, ablution and waste water treatment facilities and hardstand areas.
Product Transport Scandium oxide would be transported from the Project Site in small containers with an indicative capacity of less than 100L.
Water Management Operational water – sourced from the Nyngan – Cobar Pipeline under licence.
Potentially contaminated and sediment-laden water – retained on-site.
External flood water – excluded by levee bund with a crest approximately 1m higher than the modelled 0.1% (1 in 1 000 years) storm event.
Workforce Approximately 60 personnel during construction and 75 during operation.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT EMC METALS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD
Executive Summary Nyngan Scandium Project
Report No. 773/05
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Project Summary ( C on t ’ d )
Page 2 of 2
Project Component Summary of the Proposal
Hours of Operation Land preparation and rehabilitation – daylight hours, 7 days per week.
Mining – 6:00am to 6:00pm, 7 days per week.
All other activities – 24-hours per day, 7 days per week.
Capital Investment Value
Approximately A$124.4 million.
Final landform / land use
Open cuts – final void / water storage.
Borrow Pit and Low Grade Stockpile – nature conservation (woodland).
Residue Storage Facility – free draining landform / nature conservation (grassland).
Event and Sedimentation Ponds – water storage.
Remaining disturbed areas – consistent with current landform / agriculture.
EMC METALS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT
Nyngan Scandium Project Executive Summary
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